The BIGGEST Mistake Coaches Make Online (And What It’s Costing You)

As a web designer, I work with a looooot of coaches (some of the best in the biz) and over the years I’ve pinpointed the BIGGEST MISTAKE I see coaches making on their websites — and it’s costing them money and clients.

The good news is, this problem is easy to solve. (And you DON’T have to build a brand new website to do it.)

Join me for another episode of Awkward Marketing as I break down the #1 mistake I see coaches making on their websites AND what to do about it.

If you’re a coach or a service provider, you’re not going to want to miss this one.

Show Notes: The Quick ‘n’ Dirty

Coaches, you’re LOSING MONEY. And it’s all your website’s fault.

As a web designer, I work with a looooot of coaches (some of the best in the biz) and over the years I’ve pinpointed the BIGGEST MISTAKE I see coaches making on their websites — and it’s costing them money and clients.

The good news is, this problem is easy to solve. (And you DON’T have to build a brand new website to do it.)

In Episode 29 of Awkward Marketing, I break down the #1 mistake I see coaches making on their websites AND what to do about it. Curious?

Your website’s job is to invite people into relationship with you, not to lay out every single possible way you can work with a client. And let’s be real: they don’t really care about how you do it, anyway. Clients want to know the results you can deliver and what their life will look like after working with you!

Full Transcript: The Whole Shebang

I’m back! Hey, it’s RKA, wow it feels good to say that. And I’m here, I’m awkward, and I’m marketing. So excited to see you guys.

It’s another episode of Awkward Marketing. I took a little digital detox there. You know, who doesn’t need to just unplug, hang out with their dogs, drink some cider on their deck. That’s what I did, I actually read a real book, not my iPhone, and now I’m back at ya with another episode of Awkward Marketing, and today I’m excited because we’re talking about a big mistake, something I see all the time.

As a web designer and digital strategist, I work with a lot of coaches and service providers, and I work with some of the best in the biz. So I’ve seen the tactics and the approaches that really lead people to success, that build their businesses, that help them bring in clients, and I’ve also seen some pretty awkward mistakes that cost people money, that cost people clients, that cost people face. And so I don’t want that to happen to y’all. I wanna give you a heads up.

I’m talking today about the number one biggest mistake. Ooh, I don’t know why I reminded myself of someone I don’t wanna remind myself of. Biggest mistake that I see coaches making on their websites, costing you money, costing you clients, and how you can prevent it, and what to do instead. I know what you’re thinking, you’re thinking RKA, you’re probably gonna tell me it’s something design related and that I’m gonna have to redo my whole damn website, because that’s what you do. You’re a web designer, you’re trying to sell me stuff.

No, guess what, spoiler alert, this big mistake that I see coaches making on their website, it’s not your fonts, it’s not your color pallette, it’s not your web design at all. It’s something even bigger, something much worse. Megan Winkler is here, hey girl! The brainy babe, she’s so brainy. You’re brainy to be here today, I’ll tell ya that much.

So, yeah, it’s not your design. It’s not your colors, it’s not your fonts, it’s not your web design. That’s not the mistake I see coaches making on their website but I’ll tell you what is. But first, a little anecdote, a little story. Come down with me on story telling lane.

So, I lived in Mexico for almost 8 years, and while there I got used to their beautiful fresh markets with local vegetables, just all of the stuff that was brought in down from the mountain every day. And the supermarkets themself were pretty small, there weren’t aisles and aisles and aisles of all these different things to choose from, it was just the basics, there was a couple of brands to choose from and that was it. So I got used to that, and I remember when I used to come back home to visit Chicago and head into a Jewel-Osco, heads up, to head into a Jewel-Osco I was just completely overwhelmed by all of the options, all of the varieties that I had to choose from.

I remember specifically the cracker aisle, getting lost in the cracker aisle. There was so many choices. I gotta tell you what, I spend many years in Mexico hankering for a Cheez-It. Gosh darn it, if I coulda just had you know at any given time I probably was thinking either about Cheez-Its or Portillo’s.

And so I remember going down the cracker aisle, being like I’m gonna get myself a Cheez-It, and there were chili cheese, and Swiss cheese, and cheddar cheese and three cheese, no cheese, gluten free, gluten full, reduced fat, full fat, kind of a little bit of all, all of the different varieties that your little heart could dream of. I mean dozens and dozens of types of crackers. And my Cheez-It, guess what my Cheez-It loving heart took home with it, guess what I took home to fill that Cheez-It sized hole in my stomach? Nothing. I bought nothing. Because I became paralyzed with so many choices.

So if you can’t tell where I’m going, what the heck, you’re saying, RKA what the heck do crackers have to do with life coaching websites? And I’m gonna tell you.

This is the number one biggest mistake that I see coaches making, and service providers, making on their websites, costing them clients, costing them money, it is selling too much stuff! Too much stuff!

And I’ll tell you what, it usually looks a little bit like this. I will be collecting content for the website and I will get a big work with me document that says something like, okay, I’ve got a 60 minute session or you can get two 30 minute sessions. You can have a 45 minute session, you can have a 90 minute session, you could have half day session, you have the three quarter day session. What about a full day session? What about a whole day intensive? You know, my best pack value is eight and a half sessions, but you only get that if you buy two packages of it.

Oh and that’s not all, I’ve got a online course that helps you over come your anxiety, I’ve got a live workshop that’ll have you bust through your money box, I’ve got a group program that’ll help you discover the Guru within. I’ve got an annual retreat that’ll help you connect to your sisters and form community. Which one do you want?

And what’s so crazy about this is my clients when we talk through, and we strategically these options, this is the reasoning behind it. It’s I wanna make sure that people who come to my website know every way that I can help them. I don’t wanna lose revenue, I wanna make sure I’m not leaving money on the table. So what if somebody comes in and they want help with their anxiety, and all they see is my stuff for the feminine essence? What if somebody comes in and they want a 45 minute session with me, they can only afford that? They don’t want a 90 minute session with me. Shouldn’t I offer both? Shouldn’t I make it as easy as possible for people to know all the ways that I serve them? And I get it, you want the whole world to know just how many ways you serve them. Just how many things you can do. You don’t want anyone to be left out.

But this is not actually how it happens. Visitors don’t go to your website and say “oh wow, this is amazing, I can just work with this person in so many ways, they have so many ways to help me!” There are three things that happen when you sell so much stuff on your website. Hey Heather, Heather knows what I’m talking about. Heather of Designmancy, she’s an amazing word process wizard, web design wiz, so I’m so happy to have you here Heather.

Three things that happen when you’re selling so much stuff on your website. Number one, if you remember back to my cracker analogy, your visitor is paralyzed with so many choices. It’s like me being like do I get chili cheese, or Swiss cheese, three cheese, four cheese, five cheese, six cheese, no cheese, all cheese? I don’t know, too many cheese! And so I go into the supermarket thinking I’m gonna get some Cheez-Its to fill that cracker sized hole in my heart, and I leave with absolutely nothing at all because I can’t, I can’t choose. So that’s the first thing that happens. Your visitor is paralyzed by and overwhelmed by so many choices, and actually they’ve done studies about this, I’m not just pulling this out of my butt. They did studies at this at Columbia University, and all other sorts of, you know, fancy places. All about the fact that so often too many choices actually results in less sales for companies, not more. Isn’t that weird? Isn’t that weird, ’cause we’re like the choice generation. We could like, custom create our own cracker. I’m sure there’s a website out there that’s like customcrackers.com, check it out, I dunno. I hope that’s… it could be bad. But so yeah, that first thing that happens is people are paralyzed by indecision.

The second thing that happens is they start to doubt themselves, they start to doubt what they need. So going back to the life coach that’s got an online course for anxiety, and a group program for money blocks, and a live workshop for finding your inner Guru, and an annual retreat for sisterhood community. You know, you come to the site and you see all this stuff, and you look around and you think “wow, well you know, I really could use help with my anxiety. And I also really could use help busting through my money blocks, and I’d really love to access my inner guru, and hey I wanna have sisterhood and community.” and you start thinking to yourself, which one do I really need? What’s gonna serve me best?

Just like me in the cracker aisle being like well, I’ve had a hankering for Cheez-Its for two and a half years damn it, which cheese is gonna fill that need? And so you don’t know, is it chili cheese, is it three cheese, is it Swiss cheese, is it Jalapeno cheddar? Which one is it? You doubt yourself, and your client starts to doubt themself and what’s really truly going to serve them. Hey Ashley, from Toronto, alright, we’re gettin’ international today. We’ve got Heather, she’s in the UK, Ashley from Toronto, and me, I’m on another planet if you can’t already tell.

So yeah, I mean, the first thing that happens is people are paralyzed by too many choices. Then they start to doubt what do I really need, though? What’s really gonna serve me? They don’t know.

And the third thing that happens is they start to doubt you. They start to doubt your expertise. You have so many ways of working with people, and so many things that you help them with, and so what they always say, jack of all trades, master of none. Would you rather work with someone who like does a little bit of everything, like kinda good, fine, whatevs, totes norms. Or, totes norms, I dunno if that’s a thing but it is now. Or do you wanna work with someone who’s the top of their field, who’s the best of the best of what they do? And when you’re trying to make sure, so you know I’m going a little bit into the land of the niche here, talking a little bit about how you need a niche.

But when you’re offering your clients a smorgasbord of every possible way they could work with you, and every possible problem that you could maybe help them solve, they start to wonder are you the best person for the job? So going back here to review, this is the biggest mistake. This is the biggest mistake I see coaches making on their website, they’re selling too much stuff. And here’s the other thing.

Here’s the other thing. Even if you weren’t selling too much stuff, what we know and what I know as a web designer, I’ve done dozens of coaching sites over the years, do you know how often a visitor comes to a coaching website for the, you know, whether it’s the first time or the fifth, and says I’m just gonna go over here and I’m gonna click buy now on this $2,000 coaching pack, I’m just gonna buy it, I’m just gonna buy it right here on the site, I’m not gonna talk to the coach, not gonna get a feel for him, just gonna go ahead and buy it. Like, point zero one percent of the time. And that point zero one percent is almost always someone that has already worked with the coach. Somebody that’s already in their world.

So this is a mistake that I see coaches making is not only throwing up every possible option. Every possible option, every way that you could work with this person in any universe under the sun. But also expecting that people are going, that their first step, getting really distracted, that people’s first step is gonna be to just like put this in their shopping cart? No, that’s not your website’s job actually.

Your website’s job, and we’re talking about, we’re not talking about sales pages, we’re not talking about landing pages, we’re talking about your evergreen digital home website. Its job is not to lay out every possible way that you could ever work with a client. Your website’s job is to establish, start building trust with your audience, establish your expertise and your authority, and to bring people, invite people into relationship with you. That’s what your website’s job is.

And we know, as I said, we know people aren’t going to your website and like going through the list of many options and being like alright I’m gonna scroll down here, click on this $3,500 annual retreat, I’m just gonna buy it now. They’re not doing that! That’s not the website’s job at this place. Now, I’m not saying you can’t sell an online course, and a group retreat, and a group program, and a workshop, I’m not saying you can’t. And I’m not saying that you also can’t sell 60 minute sessions and 45 minute sessions and 90 minute sessions and half day session, and three quarter day sessions, and all day. I’m not saying you can’t sell all that stuff. But putting it in a big list, like a big menu on your website, it’s not actually doing what you think it’s doing. And it’s actually, as I said, paralyzing your folks. Paralyzing your visitors into indecision, making them doubt themselves, making them doubt you. And so you’re losing people instead of gaining them.

So as I said, your website’s job is to build trust. It’s to establish your authority and expertise, and it’s to invite people into relationship with you. ’cause I’m talking to you coaches out there, and I know that nine times out of ten, the first step into your kind of world, your coaching world is not a buy now button on your website. It’s typically a conversation. It’s typically a discovery call. Or it’s typically an application of some sort. So I go and I put in some information about myself, what I’m dealing with, what’s on my mind, what my goals are, and then you and your team kind of review that and we decide what the next step is gonna be, or, I get in a phone call with you. And we talk it through, we talk about what’s going on with me, what do I need help with? And that’s the first step.

So the first step is not going through a sea of assorted options and choosing which one maybe is gonna help me, no. No, that’s where you’re losing people. Your website’s job is to invite people into that first step with you, and when people are going to your website, they’re not interested in what are all the zillion ways I could maybe, I’m not thinking to myself, I’m not waking up in the morning saying you know what, I really want a 45 minute session with a life coach. Let me go see who fits the bill. You know what I’m saying? No, I’m thinking, gosh I am so stressed all the time, I am not living my life to the fullest, I’m not enjoying my time with my family, with my husband, with my kids, whatever. And something’s gotta give, I need help. That’s what the person who’s going to a coaching site is thinking. Or I’m, I hate my job, I can’t stand it one damn minute longer, I know I wanna do something else. I wanna transition, I wanna start my own biz, whatever it might be, something’s gotta give.

And so what I’m looking for when I go to a website is the before and after. I’m looking for how have you helped people like me? With similar problems to mine, and what does their life look like after they’ve worked together? That’s what I’m looking for. I’m not looking for how many sessions do you do? I’m not looking for your packages. I’m not looking for your programs, your retreats, your workshops, I don’t care how that happens. You know what I’m saying? I’m not going around being like let me find a live workshop in my area to help me with my anxiety. No, I don’t care how it goes down. I just care that I feel better.

So, Heather said a couple minutes ago, you could have any colors as long as you want, as long as it’s black. See, yes, Ford, you know what? That’s how this started. They did it right. Heather says, what pairs nicely with that is focusing towards your list then having open dates for each logical set of bigger products courses like lunches that repeat. Yes, so, what I was saying before. I’m not telling you to only offer one way of working with you. I’m not saying you gotta get rid of all of your options. But having them just kind of in an assorted list on your website, that’s not gonna sell them for you. You’re gonna need to create campaigns around each of your high level offerings. So if you offer an annual retreat, I’m sorry, but just putting it up on your website with like this is when we go to Hawaii, and we swim with dolphins, like, you know? You’re gonna come along. That’s not gonna be, and just hoping that people go to your website and they click on that one thing and they sign up, that’s not gonna be enough. You’re gonna have to create a whole campaign where you’re creating content, where you’re doing ads, where you’re doing e-mails to your list, or maybe you’re doing a webinar.

You’re doing a whole bunch of stuff funneling people, I know, I said the word, I said the F word, it’s gross, I know. But you gotta have it. Funneling people towards that retreat. And reminding them, because if I go to your website today and see that you’ve got a retreat in April, that’s pretty sweet, I’m excited about that. But what are the odds that I’m gonna remember that, right? So, if at anything, if you list those types of things on your website at all, you list them with a hey, you know, sign up for my newsletter to find, to be the first to know when this retreat goes on for sale.

But for each of these high level offerings, just like Heather just said, ’cause she’s the best, just like Heather just said, you’re gonna wanna create campaigns around those. You’re not gonna be selling them by just the kind of basic boilerplate description that’s on your website. You’re gonna be selling them through a targeted campaign, and that’s where your list comes in.

So yeah, it goes back to what is the first step into the relationship with you? I mentioned potentially getting on a call, I mentioned fill out an application, I also, for a lot of coaches, and not for a lot of coaches, for many coaches, that first step into relationship may not be the step that says I’m ready to work with you. That might be a little too much too soon. And so yeah, what is often a first step is gonna be you showing a little bit of value. So maybe that’s a little free course that gets dripped out through e-mail over a couple of days, or weeks. Maybe it’s an e-book, whether you share one of your foundational philosophies and how you help people that kind of gives them a little taste, a little tastey-taste of what you’re all about. Maybe it’s that. Maybe it’s a, I dunno, what else, meditation. Maybe it’s a guided meditation, then they’ve got that in their, you know, on their, what do we have? This thing, they’ve got it in their do-gibbies, they’ve got it in their do-gibbie and they listen to it, you know, every morning to help them begin the day, and center their day.

So yeah, this is really perfect what Heather just said, and all of these things I just mentioned are gonna link to the list. So you’re building your list, and then your list is a source and a way of continuing to nurture the relationship with that person over time. It’s not gonna be one visit to your website that I go through a menu of zillions of options, click on one, and buy. That doesn’t happen. And I love how Heather describes funnels. Happy guiding journeys, funnels. Yes, really, the way I like to describe funnels to my clients is a funnel is the way you lead someone from first finding out about you, to becoming your most devoted loyal fan.

What’s the journey you take them on? That’s what the funnel really is. And all of the steps in there, lots of steps, maybe you know, different steps here and there. But that’s really what a funnel is. It’s leading people into deeper relationship with you. You know, that’s what it is. Some people are like it’s all focused on the sale, but ultimately if you’re a coach, yeah you want sales but your goal is to have meaningful relationships with your clients and to make meaningful change in their lives. Just like I was saying before, when someone goes to your site, they don’t wanna know do you, can I work with you for 45 minutes at a time? Could I buy a package of three, and save $25? No, they wanna know what are your client’s lives like after they work with you. What’s the before and after? What’s my life gonna look like after I do a couple of those sessions? I don’t care if it’s sessions, I don’t care if I have to ride a hot water balloon. A hot water balloon? A hot air balloon. A hot water, can you ride in a hot water balloon? I’m gonna be the first to ride in a… wait… Was that like a tragedy? Never mind, we’re gonna just boop!

This is why they call it Awkward Marketing. So yeah, you know, it’s, they don’t care how they do it, they just care that you’re gonna make their lives better. So that’s it, folks, that’s it. Heather says you sort of gently tour guide them around your site to best help them. I love that, I love that. Yes, and that’s where a really great web designer comes in.

A great designer is gonna help you kind of create those pathways, create, lead people onto the right, you know you’re guiding people to the right places throughout the site so that you are leading them into a relationship with you. You are building trust, you are establishing authority. And you’re starting, you’re startin’ that relationship. That’s what it’s all, don’t we all love the beginning of a relationship, it’s the best part. It’s the best part, you just make out on the couch for hours at a time, and that’s enough. I’m married now, so those are only memories. Butbut oh! That sweet sweet beginning! That’s what you’re doing on your website. And a wonderful, strategic web designer, Heather, like Heather, like RKA, who shall remain named on this podcast, this is you know what, this is what we do here folks, we get awkward. That’s what a great web designer is gonna do. They’re gonna help you architect different ways to lead people into relationship with you, and to do all those things that I just established.

So if this sounds good to you, I wanna give you a little linky-link. Go check out donthireawebdesigner.com. I’ve got a guide in there for you for all the things you kinda gotta think about if you are redoing your website, or you’re thinking that that might be in your future. Here are the things that you wanna take a look at before you hire a web designer. Don’t do it yet, check out the e-book, get cozy on up, get a cup of cider, get your dogs, and read through it. That’s what I recommend. So go over there, donthireawebdesigner.com.

Otherwise, I’ll be back at ya next Wednesday for more Awkward Marketing, love seeing y’all. Ashley, Heather, Megan was here, it’s been a blasty-blast. So guys, coaches, service providers, cut down those offerings. Your website’s job is not to lay out every single possible iteration of options of maybe we could one day, you know, that’s not what you’re supposed to do. You’re not laying out every way you can work with clients. That’s not your website’s job.

Your website’s job, is to lead ultimately, build trust, establish authority, lead people into relationship with you, however that might look. Application, discovery call, show them value through an e-book, course, whatever. Love you guys, that’s what it’s all about. See ya next Wednesday.

About Rachael Kay Albers

Artist, Activist, Awkward Marketer. I'm the Creative Director and Lead Designer at RKA ink. I blog for small business owners who want to cut through the digital noise to craft a meaningful and beautiful online presence. After 10+ years living, traveling, and coding in Australia, Germany, Guatemala, Kenya, and Mexico, today I'm based outside Chicago with my husband, our two troublemaking dogs, and a bunch of old computer cords we're afraid to throw away. (You never know!) Click here to see what I've been up to lately.

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I’m Rachael Kay Albers, the Creative Director and Lead Designer at RKA ink. I blog for small business owners who want to cut through the digital noise to craft a meaningful and beautiful online presence. Check out what I’ve been up to lately.